It’s easy being green

A much-trafficked article yesterday from Ireland’s Sunday Business Post offers a thorough takedown of Richard Branson’s green claims about the Virgin Group’s airlines:

In September 2006, Virgin boss Richard Branson pledged €1.9 billion towards tackling global warming. For the next ten years, he announced, the profits from his aviation and rail businesses would go towards combating the biggest, most complex problem that mankind has ever faced. . . . However, a look at the not-very-small print revealed that this amazing gesture would not be a matter of taking the profits from Branson’s polluting industries and using them to protect vast tracts of the Amazon.

In fact, the money would go to a new division of the Virgin conglomerate, called Virgin Fuel. Branson was simply gearing himself up to make more money. But as always, the PR spin was that he’d be doing the rest of us a favour in the process.

Branson has built an empire on this perception. . . . Whether it’s flights, records, mobile phones, cola, radio, television, hotels, trains or holidays, sticking the word ‘‘Virgin’’ in front of something supposedly makes it cheaper yet cooler, with the bearded, grinning boss fronting many of his own ad campaigns. Because if a hippy says it’s all right, then it must be. Mustn’t it?

Since Virgin Fuel was set up in 2006, the tide has very much turned against bio-fuels with the realisation that far too much agricultural land could be eaten up by fuel crops. Palm oil, one of the major biofuels, is contributing to global warming as virgin (no pun intended) rainforests in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia are decimated to make way for palm plantations.
Still, in February of this year Branson was on the tarmac toying with a coconut for the inevitable photocall when one of his 747s flew – empty- from London to Amsterdam on a 20 per cent bio-fuel mixture. Two years on from his ‘‘profits’’ gesture, slightly wiser green campaigners dismissed the flight as a stunt.

Is Branson’s green commitment no more than a pose? It certainly appears that way. Beyond the press releases and showbiz stunts, there’s very little Branson has done to suggest he has a special commitment to saving the planet. Using less fuel is good for planet, of course, but it’s also good for the Virgin ventures’ bottom lines, with environmental benefits merely incidental. But the press and the public have allowed Branson to wrap himself in a green mantle, thereby shielding him from further criticism. It’s what smart businesses with questionable environmental bona fides have done for a long time, from BP to the Body Shop.

When I get the chance, I enjoy flying on Virgin-branded airlines. But I don’t kid myself that I’m being particularly environmentally responsible or virtuous by picking it. Pay close attention to what airlines are saying about their environmental impact, and don’t be fooled by long-haired gurus and nifty gimmicks.

Branson’s bogus eco-drive [Sunday Business Post]